It’s been a while since I talked about the day to day of my Pacific Crest Trail journey.
Some Catching Up
A lot has changed since the last article in Idyllwild. I have gotten stronger, more experienced and worried less as I got more and more used to the trail life.
I have also met many amazing people and spent a lot of my time with them. Unfortunately when I part ways with Tumeric in Idyllwild, she got sick afterwards and had to go home to take a break and recover.
I was still meandering along, taking my time on trail and in towns, taking up side adventures, eating a of food and enjoy my the amenities of civilization. My hiking philosophy is that there’s no rush to get through the trail.
So slowly, all the March 21st starters went way past me and I landed myself into a different bubble, the 26-29 starters. On the trail I met Patch, a retired firefighter and ems. Dock, a retired combat medic. Batgirl and Legs, from US and Sweden, who met in Sweden on tinder. Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego (yes that’s her name, Carmen for short), who travelled the world and has been to 75 countries. I have hiked and camped with all these amazing people but slowly I started hiking more and more with Carmen.
It’s interesting how hiking partnership starts. At first, you meet and then start hiking in proximity to each other. Slowly, you realize you can’t really get rid of each other as you are always camping at the same spot or catching up to each other. Eventually you just give up and hike together.
The Road to Tehachapi
Anyway, let’s start talking about the interesting section before we got to Tehachapi. It was a really fun section because of all the interesting places we got to see and stay at along the way.
Vasquez Rocks
First comes Vasquez rocks, a famous place as it became the backdrop for many famous movies and shows over the years.
Most well known for being featured in an episode of Star Trek: Arena, where there’s a silly fight between captain Kirk and a Gorn, big lizard creature.
So of course we had to make a silly video.
Here’s the original: https://youtu.be/4SK0cUNMnMM
And here’s the hiker remake: https://youtu.be/ob4lUOVaXd0
Hiker Heaven
Next we arrived at Hiker Heaven, a amazingly organized trail angel house owned by Donna Saufley. They help you with your laundry, takes and mail your packages, provide a sewing machine and give you a place to rest in their beautiful backyard. I think it’s called hiker heaven because it’s a place where everything gets done without a fuss and everything you ever need is here.
Casa De Luna
After chores finished and bellies full. We hiked 24 miles into Casa De Luna, another trail angel place operated by Andersons. It’s called the house of the Moon because it usually takes people one month to hike there. But the real reason as we later found out is that when we take a group photo in front of the class banner, Terrie Anderson moons us right as someone takes the photo. 😂
This place was pure silliness and fun. We arrived and was immediately given a Hawaiian shirt for the duration of our stay and went to take our camping spot in a beautiful giant backyard forest. After a day of relaxation, the festivities began with a taco salad dinner.
After we are all fed and happy, the traditional dance for the PCT class of 2018 bandana began. A tradition where everyone have to dance to receive their bandana. I did a little lame dance with some overused moves but some people really know how to dance or were very creative and definitely worked hard to earn their bandana. 😂
We partied late into the night. Well late for hikers anyway, finding the time to relax and enjoy each other’s companies.
After a nice night’s rest in the magical forest and delicious pancakes and coffee for breakfast, We hit the trail again, towards Hikertown.
The Story of Hikertown
Hikertown is definitely an attraction on our journey. A little imitation western cowboy town owned by Richard, who was a Hollywood producer.
I had the fortune of speaking with him and he showed us photos of him with big stars back in the day and told us that the origin story of this place.
He bought land there way back and was one day having a barbeque with his wife when he saw some what he thought was homeless people opening the gate to his property. His wife was like “go deal with them” so he walked up and asked what the heck they are doing on his property. The hikers replied: “We are hiking from Mexico to Canada and we are looking for some water” Richard couldn’t believe that and it took them 10 minutes before they could convince him that it is true. Richard said: “Well I can install a water spiget for you.” so he started installing more and more infrastructure, started with a little house and then eventually built up a little imitation western town for the hikers and named it Hikertown. I guess the passion for movies and drama never left him because stepping into Hikertown is like stepping into the past.
Our Hike to Hikertown
That day, we hiked 28 miles to make it into Hikertown. The whole time we thought about the delicious food offered at the Market down the road and our legs could not move faster. We only made a few big stops, one of them is stopping at the 500 marker to celebrate with playing “I’m gonna be (500 miles)” by The Proclaimers on repeat.
Tired and hungry, we finally made it to the edge Hikertown at a bit past 5. We quickly realized that we might not be able to get to the market and restaurant as it’s 3 miles away and the shuttle stops at 5. Thankfully, we made it in time for the last shuttle and we happily crammed into a small van. On the way, one of the people working there had to call the restaurant kitchen to tell them to stay open a bit longer because a bunch of hungry hikers are on their way. 😂
That dinner, I ate a tri-tip sandwich, a burger and a salad and a pint of ice cream. I definitely constantly surprise myself with the amount of food I can consume 😂
Afterwards laid claim to the sheriff’s office two couch, which is the common area. So we waited for everyone to shower and go to bed. Luckily, we are all hikers and hiker midnight is at about 9pm so everyone was out of there by 8:30 and we had a shower and a beautiful night of sleep because the next day was going to be a long one.
Aquaducts and Wind Farms
The next section is the infamous aquaduct and wind farm section. It’s known for being hot, windy and boring. It’s a 20 mile road walk next to the LA aquaduct and a giant wind farm.
Lucky for us, we were in a bit of a cold snap and the day was nice and cool instead of the usual draining, unbearable heat. We had a nice relaxing section of walking with surprisingly beautiful scenery. I was able to find interesting shots despite of the lack of big mountains and nature.
Most of the time though, we planned. The road with flat and wide and there was signal the whole way so we researched and started to understand how to resupply in the Sierras. With a bit of Facebook entertainment and lots of discussion, the first part of that section went by quickly.
Once we enter the hill surrounded by the wind turbines, it started getting difficult again as we dealt with increasing steep hills and howling wind but it was beautiful out there. Something about the towering man made structure used to harness the power of the wind made everything dramatic and beautiful.
After a long day of 23 miles, we finally settled down at a wind sheltered spot. Because I picked my tent site correctly, my ultralight setup kept me very comfortable that night.
On to the next adventure
The next morning, I woke early and made 18 miles tk finally made it to Tehachapi.
For a few days we rested and enjoyed delicious food and good company. Highlight of this town is definitely the Thai restaurant that cleverly named themself Thai Hachapi hahaha. Their food is delicious too.
Tehachapi is significant because it marks the end of the Southern California section on the popular PCT map and guide app Guthook’s PCT guide. We made it all the way through the desert! We now come to the southern edge of the Sierras mountains. I mean, it is not granite and pinnacles yet and it still looks like the desert mountains but it marks the beginning of a new adventure and challenges. I can’t wait to share with you this incredible journey to this world of granite and snow.
